Dining Hall has always been an important aspect of studying at UCU. Nevertheless, the constant growth of students over the last years has pushed Dining Hall’s capacities to its maximum. Next to that, the call for a more liberal system is echoing louder and more frequent. These problems have pushed ASIC to investigate into a freer meal plan system.

Another argument is that UCU has to compete against new University Colleges in the Netherlands, notable the one in Amsterdam. It has to be avoided that the obligation of eating in Dining Hall becomes a factor for people not to apply for UCU.

The exact outline of the meal plan system is not known yet. This will very possibly be the outcome of negotiations of the various parties involved, including the College Administration, Eurest and ASIC. One option that currently seems workable is the gradual shift from a 100% obligatory board in the freshman year, to a 50% board in the junior year and to no obligation in the senior year. In this way the role of Dining Hall as a social meeting place where students can get to know each other[1]is recognized.

Even though that in this plan 2^nd and 3^rd year students will not have to eat in Dining Hall all the time, they will still be able to opt for additional meals by a chip-card system similar to the Chip-knip.

Of course one can object by claiming the UCSA College Bar has a similar effect. Nevertheless, we believe that as not all students are equally fond of the bar, there is an important role for Dining Hall as a meeting place as well.